Nadaness In Motion is the book blog owned by Nada Adel Sobhi and it is where honest book reviews meet author interviews, guest posts, and personal writing ranging from poetry to short stories alongside the Takhayyal/Imagine writing prompt challenge. ---
“You cannot kill a breeze, a wind, a fragrance; you cannot kill a dream or an ambition.” - Michel Onfray

Saturday, November 30, 2013

Twin Magnolia: A Soul Call by Victoria Popescu is
a novella of soul-healing and self-discovery.

It is narrated in the first person by
Claudia, whose life has been filled with death and disappointment. She embarks
on a journey to Kauai, Hawaii and spends several weeks with her grandmother’s
best friend Tarana, the healer.

Like old Shakespearean plays, Twin
Magnolia: A Soul Call is divided into five chapters, with each chapter
divided into smaller ‘scenes’ or parts. The third chapter is the backbone of
the novella and is the longest chapter, covering around sixty percent of it;
while the resolution comes at the end in the fifth and final chapter.

The novella focuses on Claudia’s
healing process with Tarana. The latter is around 80 years of age and has
accumulated a life-long knowledge of healing. She tells Claudia about the
‘chakras’ of the body and soul and their colours. These ‘chakras’ sound like
what we know as the auras. The novella is filled with interesting material such
as the uses of mint and colours and their ability to heal.

The reader often feels that Claudia
is obsessed with finding love. We learn that she feels incapable of love and
that she yearns for her soul-mate; her other half. Luckily, this search takes
the reader’s soul to the beautiful Hawaiian Islands and through Tarana’s
healing process.

Popescu relies heavily on the
reader’s senses particularly the senses of sight and smell. The novella handles
the soul and how it needs to let go of pain and fear in order to begin its
healing process. Tarana prescribes several common and medicinal herbs such as
drinking thyme and mint to help Claudia heal.

We see Claudia’s character and soul
develop slowly throughout the novella. Simple things act as progress. For
example, the haircut Claudia gets is seen as a means of shedding the old
routine. It is accompanied by more painting and the desire to look good and
attractive.

There are many references regarding a
person’s soul in connection with nature and the earth, and how that affects
one’s soul and sense of happiness.

Twin Magnolia: A Soul Call has this slight feel of the
supernatural with regards to the healing process and how Tarana, through
experience, has gained the ability to read people, sense their pain and heal
it.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Shiri
by D.S. Taylor begins unlike any other novel, especially the way it opens; “She was born a woman, and her father had yet to forgive
her for that.” (p. 6). The protagonist Shiri is a 15 year-old girl who
lives with her parents in the small town of Yaham, in Palestine. The Shepherd
King sends his soldiers to recruit men from towns and villages to fight the
Pharoah Tuthmosis.

Ethan, a friend of
Shiri’s, tells her that Princes wear gold. Accordingly, one of the significant
images in the first part of the novel is related to gold and how it contrasts
between characters and their personalities. When Shiri sees Prince Amenhotep
for the first time, “[her] eyes widened as a
chariot gilded in a strange yellow metal that seemed to shine like the sun
pulled up before them. Gold … the chariot is covered in gold” and “Astride the chariot like some hero of old stood a warrior
trimmed in gold.” Shiri later realises that this so-called Prince is “no hero; no prince come to save the day. This was a demon,
a monster wreathed in cold, unfeeling gold.”

I loved these
images and how one of the most precious metals is depicted as harsh, “cold and unfeeling”.

I liked how the
author showed Shiri’s childish infatuation with Joseph; Taylor conveys the
struggle in a teenager’s heart very well.

The most important
theme in the novel is that of sacrifice and ironically the one who sacrifices
the most is Shiri herself, the young shepherd girl from a small and distant
town. One would think that the one with the most to sacrifice would be Joseph
since he seeks to avenge the death of his father and the abduction, rape and
murder of his mother; but in truth it is Shiri who sacrifices the most for
everyone. And worst of all, her sacrifices go unnoticed until the end.

Other themes
include love, betrayal, slavery, abuse, the master-slave relationship, and
immorality, especially that of the temple priests.

I also loved the
contrast in personalities; Shiri is a 15 year-old peasant girl and yet she has
a stronger character than the Shepherd Prince himself and not just on one
occasion but throughout the novel. She is intelligent, strong-willed, voices
her opinions and is never afraid to fight back – unless it will hurt someone
she loves. In fact, her ability to speak broken Egyptian impresses Joseph. “He raised an eyebrow clearly impressed; few amongst the
peasant folk could speak so much as a word of any tongue but their own.”
(p. 82)

We see Shiri’s
character develop and age through the troublesome experiences she undergoes.
She is wise beyond her years and gains more wisdom as the novel unfolds and as
she moves from orphaned shepherd girl to slave to mother. She progresses,
handling every stage in her life and every hurdle thrown at her all the while
bearing a specific cause in mind. She is strongly contrasted to Joseph, the
Shepherd Prince.

The novel contains
a lot of abuse both verbal and physical, while some of it bothered me a bit, and
only because I wasn’t expecting it, I would still recommend that the novel be
read by adults over 18 or better over 21.

The most amusing
character for me in Shiri is Solon, the old weapons-maker for the
Godking Tuthmosis. Solon is like the court jester in medieval plays; he is
honest, wise, sarcastic and funny. He makes for excellent humour and comic
relief in the novel.

The novel moves at
a quick and enjoyable pace. It is quit hard to put Shiri down and when
it ends, the reader cannot believe it. I couldn’t imagine waking up the
following morning and not seeing what Shiri will do next!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Pieces of paper, pottery and glass
littered the floor. The whole place was a mess. I guess that’s what happens
when people rebel; they storm and rage regardless of place, forgetting all that
is precious and beautiful.

Luckily, there are others.

Others willing to rebuild and
restore, to create a world of beauty and life once more.

Your feet bleed as you enter the dark room. Broken glass litters the
floor. In the faint light they would have appeared as pretty pearls and
crystals. But that is not us, not anymore; just shards of a broken life, a
dying love.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Science
fiction and time-travel books are two genres that can either make you or break
you. Blue into the Rip by Kev Heritage takes a golden trophy in the
former. It is an awe-wonder-some
read!

The story
focuses on Blue, who gets his name from his strange blue eyes. He is a
fifteen-year-old boy who lives with his odd parents Eddi and Newt and his
sister Annie. The story
begins in the past with the setting shifting between the past and the future in
the year 2454.

When his
sister, Annie, disappears, Blue goes out to search for her in Dooley’s Wood. From
there, Blue is hurled 450 years into the future, where he finds himself in The
Academy where he is supposed to live, train and study. Blue constantly reminds himself – and the reader – that the future is
just a transition and that he needs to go back in time to his parents and
younger sister. He
eventually realises that The Academy and his
friends are all that he has and accordingly goes out of his way to save them.

Time-travel
stories are not easy to manipulate but Kev Heritage outdid himself with Blue
into the Rip. It is a grand puzzle where every piece falls into place at
the end.

Blue
into the Rip
is a post-apocalyptic novel. Many people have died and due to global warming,
it has become impossible to live on the earth’s surface. The Amazon Jungle has
become the Amazon Desert and it is impossible to endure the scorching sun.

The
novel moves at a fairly quick pace with a good tension-relief scheme. The language
in Blue into the Rip mixes slang with some interesting blends such as awe-wonder-some and cra-mazing (crazy + amazing), among others. The dialogue is
fun, quick-paced and is the main source of information. Each character is seen
through both their attitudes and their dialogue. Although the story is narrated
in the third person, the reader feels that the opinions and descriptions are
those of Blue rather than anyone else.

Blue
into the Rip
is rich with characters from the protagonist Blue, who is rather selfish but
means well, to his friends Corvus – who for some reason reminds me of Draco
Malfoy from the Harry Potter books – the assumed-bully Wurtz, the
Ganymedian Hermans with his highly formal almost Shakespearean language, to the
rule-book-adhering Morgana, and others.

The
novel entails intrigues and games, friendships and betrayals mixed with power
and ambition. There is a rat in Saturn Squad and there is the mystery of Blue’s
identity.

Kev
Heritage’s use of imagery in Blue into the Rip is just wicked! It fits the
sci-fi theme and scenery. Amongst the images I fell in love with are: “Electricity
pylons poked from the murky waters like the masts of sunken ships.” (p. 11), “A car exploded through the playground wall like a high-velocity
bullet through a watermelon.” (p. 13), and “It
would be like trying to find a single and special grain of sand in the whole of
the Desert Amazon.” (p.
319).

Kev Heritage masterfully ties up all of the loose ends in the final
chapters and the Epilogue, all of which are intense, exciting and are a
roller-coaster ride of their own.

Overall: I was not expecting to be this impressed by the novel, since
I’ve had several unhappy sci-fi reads. Blue into the Rip is ‘swick’ and I look forward to its sequel Blue
into the Planet.

Special thanks to Kev Heritage for sending me a copy of
Blue into the Rip to review for my blog.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

This is the secondpart of my interview with Poet and to-be novelist Aria T. Glazki. For the
first part of this interview, click here. For my five-star review
of her poetry collection Life Under Examination, click here.

Q: So, you’ve
published a poetry collection and you’re working on some novels. Do you see
yourself publishing a short story collection in the future?

I’ve
played with the idea of releasing a flash fiction collection, which would
include some edited pieces from Flash! Friday contests and some fresh ones, but
nothing is certain – especially since the Flash! Friday stories are all
available on my blog. I do have a brand
new short story published inthe Scripting Change anthology, Seeing Past
Sickness, out November 4th.

Q: When writing a
novel, do you have a main theme in mind or do you write and then start
highlighting the themes and dissecting the book?

I
focus on the characters and write their story.
Themes will come out because real people have pasts and personalities,
and if you put them in a situation with other real people, issues will surface
and need to be addressed.

Q: How do you go
about when it comes to negative critiques?

Let’s
be honest, no one likes negative critiques, and I have received plenty of them
along the way. I allow myself to feel upset, and I put the critique aside for a
few hours until the emotional response has passed. Then, I look at the pieces
of the critique and see what if anything is constructive and can lead to
improvements.

Q: What genres
would you like to experiment with in the future?

Literary
fiction is definitely on my list, possibly also mystery or something dystopian,
though to be honest, I’m quite happy writing romance novels.

Q:
What are you currently reading? And what is your favourite genre in general?

Well, I read a lot of romance, unsurprisingly, but I will try
anything with a solid voice and engaging story built around compelling
characters, regardless of genre. (I will usually stay away from horror, though,
unless it’s by Edgar Allan Poe.)
Currently, I’m revisiting some of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Darkhunter novels.

Q:
What do you think of self-help books on writing books or novels and publishing
them? (Are they helpful or are most of them just a hoax? Would you recommend
any?)

Honestly, I haven’t used them except when required to read
excerpts in creative writing seminars in school. At the same time, I know many people can and
do benefit immensely from well-written books, which explain some element of
writing or plotting a story in a way that resonates with that person and
drastically improves their work. Some
I’ve heard enthusiastically recommended are the 90-Day Novel (& 90-Day
Rewrite) and Bird By Bird.

Q:
If you can have any super-power, what would it be?

Being able to function on only an hour or two of sleep a night –
does that count? It would certain be useful in those times when I’m on a roll
with a scene but much too exhausted to keep writing!

Q:
So NaNoWriMo is upon us, and I believe you took part in it in 2012. Can you
tell us about your experience with it? How has it helped you with your writing?

Yes, I wrote my first full novel as a result of NaNo 2012, so it
has certainly helped, I think partially because it allowed me to give myself
permission to focus on and prioritize my writing. I wrote a little over 50K in November, and
then another 25K through December and January combined, so you can see how the
focus of NaNo really increases (at least my own) productivity.

Q:
What is your favourite food? (Anything made especially by your mum or related
to your place of birth?)

I love so many foods, I couldn’t possibly choose a favorite –
though of course just about anything made by my mom tops the list! To this day,
hers is the best borscht I’ve ever had.

Q: Is there
anything else you’d like to add?

Thank
you, Nada, for hosting me with this interview! Otherwise, I think we’ve pretty
much covered it all haha.

Monday, November 18, 2013

This is the first part of my
interview with Poet and to-be novelist Aria T. Glazki. Check out my review of
her poetry collection Life Under Examinationhere.

Q: So first off, there are many light pieces in
your poetry collection, so why did you choose the title Life Under
Examination? Don’t you think it gives a sense of seriousness to potential
buyers?

Well, that’s just it. The
collection is about various facets of life, which isn’t exclusively serious or
lighthearted – it’s inevitably a mix of everything. The title may convey a sense of gravitas
(you’d be a better judge of that than I would!), but the collection begins with
some fun pieces, though I like to think their subject matter is thought
provoking, despite the tone.

Q: Tell us about the novel(s) you’re working
on.

Currently, I have a project out
on submission, a novel which I’m revising, and my NaNo project for 2013 – all
three are romances, of course. The novel
I’m revising is about a frustrated Muse, who accidentally becomes mortal and
has to rely on her somewhat ungrateful charge to navigate our world, so there’s
a bit of a paranormal element there. The
other two are purely contemporary, and they feature a similar group, though
focusing on different characters’ journeys.

Q: Which do you prefer e-books or paperback?

Definitely paperback, or even
hardback. I certainly see the value of e-books, for portability, accessibility,
and lower production costs, but nothing can truly replace a printed book in
your hands!

Q: Do you plan on having your new novel(s) in
both e-book and paperback or just e-books?

If that decision is up to me,
they will absolutely be published both in print and digitally.

Q: You told me Life Under Examination is
a self-published book. So what can you tell me about self-publishing in
general, are there different types of self-publishing?

Life Under Examination is
self-published, and only available digitally at the moment, unless you win a
select print copy in one of my giveaways.

There are some wonderful resources
out there describing self-publishing options, such as print-on-demand vs.
digital-only, and I am certainly not an expert.
Personally, I chose to publish firston Smashwords, which converts your book into multiple formats for
readers and also distributes it to other online retailers, as well as on Amazon, and eventually throughBarnes& Noble, which honestly has my favorite
interface. I very well may add other
options in the future, time permitting.

Q: What are the pros and cons of self-publishing?

The pros: every
decision is in your hands, which means you are not stuck with a cover you hate,
and no one tells you to cut your favorite poem / chapter, etc.

The cons: every decision is in your hands, which means you may feel
overwhelmed or out of your element, and you are on the hook for every aspect of
the resulting e-book, as well as every marketing decision. Remember that you can research tips &
tricks for every part of the process online, and don’t cut corners or publish
too soon.

Q: What was the hardest part in producing the
book?

The hardest part for me is
probably convincing people to give the collection a chance – the word “poetry”
scares them off, but those who start reading it find that there’s nothing to
fear, and most even enjoy it!

Q: Aspiring writers claim that the hardest part
is finding an editor. How did that work for you and for Life Under
Examination?

Poetry is somewhat different when
it comes to the editing process, but regardless, I have worked with an amazing
editor I would recommend to anyone! You can find her onEditsByAnya.blogspot.com&@AnyaKagan.

Q: While still in the drafts stage, do you give
your book to family and/or friends to give you comments or do you wait till you
finish and go straight to an editor?

I will absolutely give my book to
beta readers, but usually only after editing through it a few times myself. My roughest drafts are not fit for public
consumption, and I prefer beta readers / critique partners / an editor to focus
on the parts I couldn’t fix myself, especially since the more times you see a
text, the less able you are to notice issues.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Hadassah managed to befriend her kind’s worst
enemies and save her brother and the human girl he loves from the Vampiric
King—once. After a month spent in quiet hiding under the protection of the
Huntsmen, a surprise attack from a band of Kaiju shatters their brief reprieve.
Faced with new challenges and new threats, Hadassah and the others must once
more fight for her brother and the girl who stole his heart. And this time, the
Vampiric King isn’t the only one they need fear…

Elisabeth Wheatley is a teen author of the Texas
Hill Country. When she’s not daydreaming of elves, vampires, or hot guys in
armor, she is wasting time on the internet, fangirling over indie books, and
training her Jack Russell Terrier, Schnay.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Ghosts of the
Falls by Sarah Gilman is a sweet and highly
enjoyable romantic paranormal novella.

Set in Maine, the United
States, the novella begins by introducing the reader to exorcist Jade Clarence,
who has been given a final opportunity to prove herself capable of working in
the family business of exorcism, which deals with earth-bound ghosts not with
demonic possessions as seen in movies.

Jade Clarence
goes to Maine to exorcise a ghost, and meets Dutch. Jade is different; she
knows that exorcisms are painful for the ghosts, whom she does not feel should
always suffer. Some are innocent and do not deserve the torment that accompanies
an exorcism. So she is a kind of noble exorcist. She tells Dutch “For years, I’ve been researching, trying to write an
incantation that would send spirits on to the next world without hurting them,
to heaven or hell or wherever they’re supposed to go.”

Jade has a
Tinker Bell figurine in her car and likes to compare herself to Tinker Bell whom
she says is a "feisty girl who puts up with
a bunch of boys," which rings true.

Throughout the seven-chapter
novella, Jade explains to Dutch how exorcism works, and reflects on her most
recent experience, that of a troubled teenage spirit.

Ghosts of the
Falls is
a novella in which a ghost finds life in death and where an exorcist finds love
and warmth in the ghost.

The language of
Ghosts of the Falls is simple with lots of dialogue and short
paragraphs, all which add to the quick pace of the novella. The dialogues
provide information, interaction between characters and bits of comic relief
and romance mixed with comic relief.

The novella has
a slight fairy-tale feel to it, but with a remarkable twist in the end.

The book also
contains two excerpts from Gilman’s other works, namely Deep in Crimson
and Wings in Redemption.

I couldn’t put Ghosts
of the Falls down and I am excited to read more by Sarah Gilman. Every girl/woman
will want her own ‘Dutch’ after reading Ghosts of the Falls.

Special
thanks to author Sarah Gilman and Katie Clapsadl from Entangled Publishing for
providing me with a free copy for this review.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Subterranean Summer is a
collection of 35 poems by Joe Maldonado. It opens with a note from the author
and the index of the collection’s titles. The latter cover various topics,
genres and ideas, in a variety of poetic forms such as rhymed-verse, free verse
and Haiku.

The first poem in the collection is the one bearing
the title of the book, “Subterranean Summer”. It is an interesting and
thought-provoking piece with a good rhyme and flow to it. Following that is “American
Cheese”, which is a short, comic but sad piece (in my opinion at least). Then, the
reader comes across “Freedom Fries”. It is a piece with an interesting title
and one that I absolutely LOVE! It opens with the following strong lines: “Honey,
I don’t want your freedom fries,/or anything from your patriotic potato sack of
lies,”. Towards the end, there is this line “prisoners of propagandized
political paradigms.” Being an alliteration-loving freak, this is perfection
for me; satire and alliteration. This line earns you two thumbs from me Joe.

“The End” a simple love poem to which many can relate. It is written
using simple wording and a smooth rhyme. These are the lines that stood out for
me (a very good thing): "But I guess this is how it ends./With a whimper, not
an explosion."

Shortly after, the reader comes to the short poem “Notebook”; an
utterly breathtaking piece with an extended image of love mixed with writing
and sensuality. I could not pick a line or two for I simply indulged in this
poem. I want to quote it whole (but will refrain from doing so).

*Hats off and round of applause for this piece!*

Moving on, the reader arrives at “Soundtrack of My Life”. I,
personally, love the title of this piece and how it plays on various kinds of
music, singers and bands. Shortly after, the reader arrives at “Fortune Cookie”,
which is an interesting piece with some interesting imagery for a fortune
cookie. I like the image and alliteration in "plastic prison". It is
a poem of hollowness and loss; expectation that ends with frustration and
"emptiness".

The collection also encompasses “Goodbye Wall Street”; a satiric piece
about the world of Wall Street and brokers. I absolutely LOVE it! I must say
this is the first time, for me, to see someone address or tackle Wall Street in
poetry. *hats off Joe*

The poem “Beautiful Lies” is another piece that is both interesting
and spectacular as it tackles truth and lies. It's one of those poems that
carry weight. *thumbs up Joe*

I do not like the use of the “F” word in art in general and in poetry
in particular (unless it serves an obvious purpose). In “I am a Metaphor” – and
later on in another piece - I did not find that purpose. I do, however, like
the reference to the Harry Potter series (or at least for me it's a reference to
HP) in the "vomit-flavored jelly bean". The poem also contains some thought-provoking
ideas and lines.

I absolutely love the message in the poem “Stay Tuned”. Although to me
it feels and reads like rhyming or lyrical prose but it is nonetheless one of the
strongest and highly satirical pieces in this collection. A must-read! It has many
interesting lines, but to pick a couple, these are my favourite:

"With each show I watch I get slightly sadder/with each chip I
eat I get slightly fatter".

Another satire-filled piece is “A Word from Our Sponsor”, which begins
with: "Dear Mr. Corporate America". I like the sarcastic tone and the
how it applies to all societies and countries.

"Dear Mr. Corporate America/here's an offer/not even the slimiest
of you/can refuse". The opening stanza as a whole is dark, sarcastic and
downright honest. And I like the use of the word ‘slimiest’. An applause is in
order for this piece.

Shortly after, the reader arrives at yet another satirical and
critical piece called “Boomerangs”. I particularly liked this stanza: “We are
tired/of Pinocchio politicians,/wooden liars/trying to be human." Powerful
imagery and alliteration always gets to me.

The poem “Somnambulist Stroll” is a dark piece filled with uncanny
imagery. I love it for it appeals to my dark side and the imagery is just
splendid. *hats off*

“Somnambulist Stroll” is another must-read piece in Joe's collection.

No poem is a better conclusion to a poetry collection as Joe
Maldonado’s “One Last Thing”. It is a poem that bears words of wisdom and that ends
on a hopeful note. I truly enjoyed this last piece; the perfect ending.

Thank you Joe :)

“Subterranean Summer” is a collection that
encompasses many weighty satirical poems along with pieces on music, love,
religion, sadness and more. I enjoyed the satirical pieces a great deal and
though some pieces did not appeal to me, I think it is fair to give this
collection a 4.5-star rating. (I feel it unfair to give a 4-star rating for
there were many pieces that I enjoyed.)

So there are
items on my previous update that have been crossed out and others that haven’t.
There’s also NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which I will be doing an
article on at the end of November and in which I’m faring miserably!

·Twin Magnolia: A Soul Call by Victoria Popescu (but I
have done some decent progress today, hope to finish it tonight & review it
tomorrow tops)

·Blue Into the Rip by Kev Heritage

·The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart (the
first instalment in The Merlin Trilogy) is still on hold at page 128.

I have, however, added a couple of new pages to the blog and
made some background and font colour changes for those who haven’t visited in a
while. I wanted to do something a LOT more interactive but I’m just not that
much of an html/code geek. Sorry!

Still on my
to-read list:

·2 Officers by Essam Youssef (I’m
dying to start this book!)

·Ghost Musicby Patrick Linder

My attempts
at reading Arabic this month have so far failed epically! I guess it will be
the December plan.

Anyone participating
in NaNoWriMo and would like to contribute or be interviewed for my article,
which will be published on this blog and student magazine for Cairo University,
can e-mail me at:nadanessinmotion@gmail.com